Accidental Occurences
by CopperCatchfly
Summary: Jo and Laurie come up against some problems while preparing a play for Beth...
1. Chapter 1

Accidental Occurrences

By PurpleLemons

Disclaimer: I do not own Little Women or any of the characters. I have merely borrowed them and used them for non-profit reasons. (You gotta do it properly first time!)

A/N: Ok so this is my first ever fanfic! It's probably pretty crappy but I can't really judge so if you wouldn't mind reading and reviewing I would be so grateful. Oh yeah- Laurie and Jo rock forever!

It had begun so well. Laurie had concocted such a splendid idea for a play to cheer up Beth, for she seemed to be so downcast of late that he just had to go and share it. He ran down the garden path straight into that familiar home-from-home that was the March house, and bounded up the stairs in his usual chaotic manner, only pausing to offer a quick hello and a pretty posy to the lady of the house. He intended to enlist the help of Jo, whose imagination and acting prowess would surely benefit his plans.

He burst into the girl's room, huffing and puffing and generally looking as though he had been dragged through a hedge backwards. He smiled cheerily at Jo, who was stretched out on her bed all alone, seemingly reading about four books at once, with a slightly put-out expression. She looked up at her visitor and, although she was completely unaffected by his dishevelled appearance, the sight of his face brightened her eyes and, with all of the grace she could muster, clambered ungainly off the bed and ran to meet him.

"Oh Teddy I am so very glad to see you! Everyone has left me up here all alone and gone to town, but I have been confined to this blasted room because I had been fighting with Amy even though it was her fault in the first place! The injustice of it Laurie! I have been hoping that you would come over for you know I..." While Jo momentarily paused for breath to continue her rant, Laurie put a finger to her lips. The shock of the touch silenced her, and while Laurie began to explain the reason of his visit Jo sat quietly on her bed, hoping that the colour in her cheeks would fade.

"I have had an excellent idea Jo! You know how Beth has been lately, and I know the very thing to get her back to her usual self- a play! You can help me perfect the script and... oh there are only three roles so Meg will have to sit this one out. Do you think she will mind terribly?" he asked her worriedly.

"Hmm, she will probably be too busy staring at Mr Brooke to even care", said Jo in a bitter tone that she quickly dropped, as always, "So what's this play all about then?"

The next half an hour was spent in deep conversation, with intervals of explosive laughter breaking out every few minutes. Mrs March came up one time to check on the two conspirators, but upon opening the door she was greeted by silence and two pairs of eyes that stared at her so relentlessly until she backed out of the door, that she quickly decided that it would be best not to ask.

Once the plans were finalised, they were so proud of their work that it was simply not possible for them to wait for Amy to return to practise it. They both took up their scripts and headed for the dressing-up box, where, upon arrival, Laurie began sifting through the clothes immediately.

"Here Jo this is for you", he proclaimed, handing her a beautiful, floating, pink gown. Jo stared at the item in disgust and confusion, giving him such a look that he could not help but laugh.

"Teddy", she began in an unusually quiet voice, "why are you brandishing that at me?" Laurie looked up at her and said in a dangerously patronising tone- "Because it's your costume!" This did not please Jo at all.

"What? Are you expecting me to play the Princess? Don't be silly! Why not Amy?" she said all in one breath. Laurie rose to his full height, still clutching the dress, and braced himself for a full-on battle of wills with the girl standing in front of him.

"Amy has to play the evil dwarf Jo, you know that. So it's going to have to be you."

"Why, because I'm a girl? That's terribly unfair and don't think for a minute that I am going to stand for it Theodore Laurence!" she replied, evidently fuming at Laurie's remarks.

"Don't go full-naming me Josephine! What do you want? I'm playing the knight so..."

"Why can't I play the knight? You know I am always the man's role, I just can't do damsels in distress!"

"Oh and I can? Don't look at me like that Jo there is no way I am wearing a dress so think again."

"Oh but the colour suits you so well Laurie" retorted Jo, sarcasm dripping off her words. Laurie took in a deep breath and prepared his defence.

Downstairs, the girls had just returned from the town, and the raging row was still going full throttle. Meg sighed, put away her coat and briskly climbed the stairs, leaving the two younger sisters to wonder what could be causing such a terrible argument.

Meg burst in through the door to find Jo and Laurie red-faced and out of breath, with such severe looks on their faces that, had Beth been there, she would have run quaking from the room.

"What on Earth is going on here" cried Meg, while the two culprits glared at each other from across the room, before a stream of nonsensical words came tumbling out of both their mouths in such rapid succession that Meg could make no sense of it whatsoever, and was forced to send Laurie from the room.

After hearing Jo's side of the story, she called Laurie back inside and listened to him too. Sighing and shaking her head as though she were double their age, Meg took a moment to think it over before calling Laurie to her and whispering into his ear: "Just humour her would you Laurie? You know how worked up she gets about these things- I'm sure you would do it for your best friend."

Those words seemed to have some sort of effect on the sentimental young boy, and he promptly got down on his knees and proclaimed: "Jo, I would gladly wear a dress for you any day, no matter how frilly it is! Would you accept my sincerest apologies and forgive me?"

Jo, who had a weakness for such gestures, relented immediately and flamboyantly bowed to her friend. Meg surveyed them with pride, knowing the deeper meaning behind the innocent charade. The show would go on.


	2. Chapter 2

The audience was seated, the curtains drawn, and the players waiting excitedly backstage. Thanks to Meg, Laurie and Jo were now in good spirits; seeing the whole gender swap as a good joke. Amy however, was a little cross at having to wear a beard for her, rather unsophisticated, role.

Beth, who had wished for a tiny part, not knowing that the entire skit was for her pleasure, was the curtain puller. She did her job beautifully, as the small pieces of fabric parted and the play began with a flourish of Jo's wooden sword.

It was a brilliant success; the dutiful audience of family and friends cheered and booed and laughed in all the right places, while the stars acted perfectly. Beth enjoyed herself immensely and everyone was so happy to see that lovely little smile back on her innocent face. She especially liked Laurie as the beautiful, albeit manly, princess, who swooned and sighed and squealed with the best of them, while her (well...his) heroic saviour was dashingly brave and suave (Jo had perfected that role long ago).

Before long, their evil nemesis was defeated and slunk off the stage, but not before Amy stood and received her round of applause. The final moment of the play was nearing, and the princess lifted her fluttering fan before her face and inviting the knight to kiss her.

Jo bent forward and put her face beside Laurie to pretend to kiss him, as she had done many a time with her sisters. She smiled at her friend, who was wearing an oddly serious expression on his handsome face. In the next second, Laurie's lips were touching hers in a quick but forceful kiss.

The fan came abruptly down and Jo had no time to hide her intense shock. She continued with the show, hoping that her pink cheeks and wildly beating heart were not evident. Laurie showed no visible change, except a faint shortness of breath and a tiny smile that only appeared when he had done something particularly mischievous. Jo knew it well, but was trying very hard not to look at his face. Only the ever insightful Meg saw her lack of composure and wondered, with a smile, if things were going as she had hoped.

Only later on, when everyone was back into normal dress and chatting merrily, did Laurie get a chance to approach Jo.

"Jo?" he tried, but she would not turn towards him. Before she walked away, Laurie softly touched her elbow, and his startled friend whirled round to stare him in the face. Jo simply did not know whether to chastise him or run away (she was purposefully ignoring the third option in the back of her mind, which turned her ever-blushing cheeks pinker still).

"Look, I'm terribly sorry Jo; I should have known not to take liberties because of the play. It was quite an accidental occurrence and shall not happen twice. Once again, I offer you my apologies of the deepest kind and hope that you will find it in your heart to forgive such a stupid boy" he spoke gravely and in such a penitent stance that Jo could do nought but forgive everything at once.

By way of acceptance Jo punched him, rather forcefully, in the arm and smiled in her own way, before flouncing off as she often did, leaving her boy standing with a sore arm and a happy thought. Feeling that things were back to normal, Jo took up her favourite seat and watched Laurie play charmingly with her younger sisters. Before long, she touched her mouth unconsciously, her thoughts slipping back to that thrillingly soft contact, and her heart secretly hoping for another accidental occurrence.

"_Rats"_ thought Jo, _"I'd best read an extra chapter of Pilgrims Progress tonight"_

P.S

I thought I might as well tell you the ultimate fates of the Little Women characters in MY world:

Jo becomes a successful writer and marries Laurie and they lead a wonderful life together with much happiness and many little Jo's and Laurie's

Professor Bhaer goes crying back to Germany, well I'm sure he'll be happy there and all that shit

Amy dies instead of Beth **or** marries someone else- I haven't decided (UPDATE: I just read the book again and you know what? She DIES! She DIES!)

Beth never marries, but cares for Mr Laurence till the end of his days. She also composes music and publishes it or whatever in a fake name, so she receives no recognition but lots of happiness for her work

So what do you think? As crappy as I imagined? **Please** let me know I'm dying here!


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